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Autosport

F1 Singapore GP: Alonso tops FP1 from Leclerc, Albon sidelined by brake fire

Fernando Alonso opened the Singapore Grand Prix weekend with the fastest time in Formula 1's first free practice session, as the Aston Martin driver finished the session 0.15s clear of Charles Leclerc.

The two-time world champion set a 1m31.116s on soft tyres in the daylight session, eclipsing Leclerc's benchmark on the C5s as Max Verstappen sat a further 0.126s behind.

Low grip track conditions at the start of the session created multiple lock-ups through the early stages as the drivers found it difficult to coax their cars into the tighter corners, with a sprinkling of dust obscuring the offline sections of the track.

Alonso had led after the opening 15 minutes with a 1m32.592s, as Aston Martin chose to open with medium tyres versus the hard tyres used by everyone else.

This was surpassed by Lando Norris' 1m32.493s on the hard compound but, 10 minutes later, Alonso returned to the top with a 1m32.054s. The Spaniard's time at the top was more fleeting on this occasion, as his countryman Carlos Sainz bolted on medium tyres to dip below the 92-second mark to set a 1m31.812s.

In the second half of the hour-long duration, a number of drivers began to explore the softer compounds; Leclerc collected a 1m31.266s on his first lap with softs to set a benchmark.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Norris and Oscar Piastri attempted to overturn this, but both McLaren drives fell short and cycled through the pitlane for a tweak to their front wing angle - Piastri cited an 'understeery' car after his first soft-tyre effort.

Alonso, however, found a 1m31.117s on his opening soft-tyre effort to surpass Leclerc, as neither McLaren nor Verstappen could find an advantage over the Ferrari driver's lap on the C5s. With a follow-up effort on the same set of softs, Alonso found a thousandth of a second on his previous best.

Behind Leclerc and Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest - 0.364s away from his former McLaren team-mate. Piastri lightly touched the wall on his best lap, one-thousandth of a second down on Hamilton, while Norris was sixth fastest.

Isack Hadjar had a prosperous first outing in Singapore and was seventh on the timesheets, ahead of Sainz - who chose not to run the soft tyre through the session. Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon completed the top 10.

Alex Albon suffered a brake fire in the opening 10 minutes of the session, prompting hurried attention from his Williams mechanics as they attempted to stop the smoke pouring out of the rear end.

F1 Singapore GP - FP1 results

   
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4
   
   
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2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval Tyres km/h
1 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 23

1'31.116

  S 195.179
2 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 25

+0.150

1'31.266

0.150 S 194.858
3 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 24

+0.276

1'31.392

0.126 S 194.590
4 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 Ferrari Ferrari 23

+0.364

1'31.480

0.088 S 194.403
5 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 25

+0.365

1'31.481

0.001 S 194.401
6 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 22

+0.582

1'31.698

0.217 S 193.940
7 France I. Hadjar RB 6 RB Honda 28

+0.639

1'31.755

0.057 S 193.820
8 Spain C. Sainz Williams 55 Williams Mercedes 27

+0.696

1'31.812

0.057 M 193.700
9 Japan Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 22 Red Bull Red Bull 25

+0.744

1'31.860

0.048 S 193.598
10 France E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 Haas Ferrari 24

+1.012

1'32.128

0.268 S 193.035
11 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 22

+1.023

1'32.139

0.011 M 193.012
12 Germany N. Hulkenberg Sauber 27 Sauber Ferrari 29

+1.199

1'32.315

0.176 S 192.644
13 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault 26

+1.262

1'32.378

0.063 S 192.513
14 Italy A. Antonelli Mercedes 12 Mercedes Mercedes 24

+1.283

1'32.399

0.021 M 192.469
15 New Zealand L. Lawson RB 30 RB Honda 27

+1.345

1'32.461

0.062 S 192.340
16 United Kingdom O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 Haas Ferrari 25

+1.422

1'32.538

0.077 S 192.180
17 Brazil G. Bortoleto Sauber 5 Sauber Ferrari 27

+1.495

1'32.611

0.073 S 192.029
18 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes 18

+1.918

1'33.034

0.423 S 191.155
19 Argentina F. Colapinto Alpine 43 Alpine Renault 26

+2.208

1'33.324

0.290 S 190.561
20 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes 2

 

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